Growing Poncirus Trifoliata from seed

peat23(6a)October 12, 2012

I had already attempted to grow Poncirus Trifoliata from seed, hoping to use it as a stock plant, sowing at a depth of 1 inch, but after a while, I dug the seed up and it had rotted! What did I do wrong, and may I have a proper sowing procedure if possible?

First of all, where did you get the seed from? Like citrus, Poncirus seed needs to be fresh from the fruit or stored correctly in cool conditions around 35-40F. Dry seed at room temperature rapidly loses viability.
Seed germinates in about two weeks if kept around 70-80F. Cooler takes longer and there is then a danger of rot setting in.

I have found the following process works every time for me
store seed at 40F for at least 30 days... then LIGHTLY cover the seed soil temp for germination 60-75F & takes 21-28 days to germinate
REAMBER a another name for this is "Hardy Orange" not tropical orange

I pealed the skin coating off 4 seeds and planted them in a rigid lunch meat container with its lid on to hold in moisture, in a sand compost mix. They came up in 8 days. They are real sensitive to stem rot at the soil surface. I separated them to there own pots an watered them from underneath in a bucket of tap water (chlorinated) so the soil surface and stem never get wet. These plants NEED iron zinc and manganese. these are my 4 P.T's after 7 months. good luck

Now about a year ago, by sheer coincidence, I found not one, not two, but THREE trifoliate orange trees in the woods that were probably carried there by deer. There is now a profitable business relationship between us in which I collect the fruit every fall and raise the seeds. Here are some of my seedlings: